Singapore rides high on biomedical research

According EDB, the biomedical sciences industry contributed about five percent of Singapore's GDP growth in 2011. The manufacturing output grew from $18.2 billion in 2010 to $21.5 billion in 2011. The biomedical industry is also a significant value-added contributor, adding $10.3 billion in value-add in 2011 compared to $8.1 billion in 2010.

The biopharmaceutical industry has expanded by more than 30 percent, creating 6,000 jobs in Singapore. The medtech industry also maintained a consistent growth and the manufacturing output in this sector was of $3.4 billion that expanded by 12 percent in 2011. EDB notes that medtech companies provide about 9,000 jobs, accounting for over 60 percent of the total jobs in the biomedical sciences cluster.

Singapore continues to remain a popular destination as companies use it as a trading base for the region. The government incentives such as low corporate tax rates and strong intellectual property laws encourage multinational pharmaceutical companies to locate their operations in this island nation.